Car journal box



Aug. 16, 1932. H. c. DREIBUSS ET AL CAR JOURNAL BOX Filed June 20, 1928 INVEN TORS. HARRY C. DRE/Buss PA 1. J. MCu (16H By W HTTORNEKS.

[In 'III/ Patented Aug. 16, 1932 HARRY C. DREIBUSS AND PAUL J.

TO SCULLIN .STEEL COMPANY, SOURI PATENT OFFICE can JOURNAL Box Application fi led. .Tune 20,

This invention relates to journal boxes for railway cars, and particularly journal boxes of the type that are constructed so as to hold oil or some other suitable lubricating medium which is applied to the journal on the wheel axle by means of waste, or some other suitable fibrous packing material in the box that is partially submerged in the oil in the box and which is arranged in contact with the journal.

The main object of our invention is to provide a car journal box of the general type mentioned, that is rugged, inexpensive to manufacture, capable of being easily cast or molded and of such design that integral portions of the box prevent the packing material from rotating with the journal, without, however, interfering with the operation of forcing the packing material into the proper position with a conventional hook-shaped packing tool.

To this end we have devised a journal box that consists of a hollow, box-shaped casting provided with a corrugated or sinusoidald shaped bottom portion of uniform thickness or approximately constant cross section whose ridges and valleys extend longitudinally of the journal and are so proportioned that while they effectively prevent the packing material from rotating with the journal, they are spaced far enough away from the journal to permit the box to be packed quickly and properly with a conventional packing tool.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a longitudinal sectional view of a car journal box constructed in accordance with our invention, taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view, taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the lower portion of the box.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates the preferred form of our invention, A designates a car journal box that contains waste or some other suitable packing material which is used to apply a lubricant to a car axle journal B that is surrounded by said box, the lower portion of the box being so is required for the 1928. Serial No. 286,776.

constructed that it will serve as a reservoir for oil in which said packing material is partially submerged. The usual practice is to MCCULLOUGH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AssIGnoRs 0F s'r. LOUIS, M ssoURr, A CORPORATION or MIS- pack suilicient waste or the like in the lower portion of the box to cause said waste to contact with or rub against approximately the lower half of the journal, thereby insuring sufiic'ient oil being applied to the journal to keep it properly lubricated.

In the conventional car journal box that is now in general use, the lowerportion of the box is-formed by a smooth or plain face,

curved wall that conforms to the curvature of the lower half of the journal, and which is spaced away from same a certain approximate distance which has been found to be necessary in order to provide suflioient clearance for the hook-shaped tool that the journal box inspector introduces into the front end of the box and then moves rearwardly underneath and at the sides of the journal in the operation of installing, removing or rearranging the packing material. Our invention consists in providing a car journal box with a corrugated lower portion having a plurality of longitudinally-disposed, spaced ridges 1 that diminish the volume of the space in which the packing material is arranged without, however, cutting down the clearance between the lower half of the journal and the lower portion of the box that packing hook used by the journal box inspector. In other words, the

inner surface of the lower portion of our improved journal box is sinusoidal shape in transverse cross-section and is made up of a plurality of longitudinally-disposed ridges 1 whose inner edges lie closer to the journal than the inner surface of the lower portion of a journal box of conventional design, and which are spaced apart so as to form channels or valleys of s'uflicient depth to receive the hook-shaped tool that is used by the inspector in the operation of inspecting or replacing the packing material.

In cold weather, when the packing material in the box becomes stiff, due to congeal ing of the oil, the ridges l effectively prevent the packing material from revolving with the journal, and another advantage that results from making the lower portion of the box corrugated, or of sinusoidal shape in transverse cross section, instead of in the form of a smooth or plain faced shell, is that the box is much stronger than the conventional uncorrugated or plain shell type journalbox that is now in general use.

It has heretofore been proposed to cast ribs, flanges and vanes on the interior of the lower portion of a journal box to strengthen the box and prevent the packing material from rotating with the journal, but journal boxes of the kind just mentioned are objec' tionable, in that the ribs, flanges or vanes make certain portions of the box of greater thickness than other portions, and hence, make it practically impossible, from a commercial standpoint, to manufacture the box at a sufficiently low cost to compete with the conventional plain-faced, shell-type box, due to the tendency of castings of unequal thickness or non-constant cross section, to crack and the resulting high percentage of defective castings or rejects. Still another objection to journal boxes of the kind that are equipped with deep, inwardly-proj ecting flanges or vanes, is that the top edges of the flanges are located so close to the journal that they make it diificult, if not impossible, to properly pack the box with a conventional packing tool and in the time that is usually available for this purpose, owing to the lack of clearance between the vanes or flanges and the exterior of the journal.

Our improved journal box has none of the disadvantages above pointed out, because in our box the lower portion is of constant cross section or of uniform thickness, and hence, can be cast as easily, and at as low a cost, as a box provided with a lower portion constructed in the form of a plain-faced or smooth shell. Due to the fact that the lower portion of our box is of sinusoidal shape in cross section, there is sufficient clearance between the journal and the longitudinally disposed ridges of the corrugated portion to permit a packing tool to be introduced into the front end of the box and moved longitudinally of same towards the rear wall of the box to pack the waste or other packing material below and at the sides of the journal, the valleys between the ridges serving as guideways for the packing tool that prevent said tool from slipping downwardly towards the extreme bottom of the box in the operation of forcing the packing material rearwardly at the sides of the journal. In addition to the advantages above pointed out, our box is stronger than a conventional plain-faced, shell-type box, due, of course, to the fact that the lower portion is longitudinally corrugated.

, Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A cast or molded car journal box, having a sinusoidal-shaped lower portion of constant cross section whose ridges are disposed longitudinally of the journal.

2. A cast or molded car journal box, whose lower portion is integrally connected with the side walls of the box, said lower portion being longitudinally corrugated and of substantially uniform thickness throughout its entire area.

8. A car journal box, comprising side walls and a lower portion constructed in the form of a casting of uniform thickness or approximately constant cross section, said lower portion being of substantially sinusoidal shape in cross section and the longitudinally-disposed ridges of same being spaced far enough away from the journal to provide ample clearance for the tool used to force the packing material into the box.

HARRY C. DREIBUSS. PAUL J. MGCULLOUGH. 

